Alex & the XMen
by Kitty Rasputin
Summary: Now a crossover with Labyrinth. What is Alex's connection to the XMen? Who is Spell? Read and Review
1. The Ride

Chapter 1-The Ride

She pulled her van off the road onto the stony beach. There really was no time for her to take this break, but she had nowhere else to be. Besides, the water was inviting and the urge was irresistible. Quickly, she shed her sweater and jeans. She pulled a black wetsuit from one of her bags and, after checking her bandaged side, slipped into it.

It took her only a few minutes to unload her board and attach the sail. Then, despite her habit of leaving the keys in the ignition, she locked her van up. The small beach might look like it was in the middle of nowhere, but she'd been wrong before. With all of her possessions in the vehicle, there was no point in her taking a chance.

The icy water shocked her senses when it first touched her skin. Late September might be perfect weather in the southern part of the country. In New York, however, it already felt like the weather was gearing up for winter. She paddled out far enough that she wouldn't run into any sandbars. Then, catching a gust of wind, she took off.

The board skimmed over the top of the water quickly. She laughed out loud at the sheer intensity of the feeling. It had been far too long since she'd let herself really have fun. A few dolphins, hearing her laugh, swam over to investigate. She called to them, urging them to play.

All too soon, she felt her playtime slip away. It was going to get dark soon and she needed to keep driving. She reluctantly turned her sailboard towards shore. When she got closer, she discovered that she'd strayed south of her beach. She was about to lower her sail to paddle back on her own when a powerful gust of wind grabbed it and started pulling the board to shore.

Unlike the beach that she'd left her van parked at, this strip of land was blocked by huge boulders jutting out of the ocean. She attempted to steer away from them, but the wind and the current wouldn't let her. At the last second before her board smashed into one of the boulders, she bailed off. Unfortunately, her face scraped the rock as she dove into the water.

She stumbled up onto the beach. Vaguely, she noticed that it comprised of the soft white sand that could only be bought. She sat down to rest for a moment while she figured out how to outsmart the current. She was so lost in her musings that she didn't hear the footsteps behind her. The snapping of a twig was her first clue that she was not alone anymore. She whirled around into a fighting crouch.


	2. Standoff

Chapter 2- Standoff

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men. They belong to Marvel. I only own Alex, but I wish I owned Colossus as well. ;)

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She hid a grin when she saw who was standing there. The imperial snow queen glared down at her regally. She stood with her hands on her pristine white slacks. "Did you know that you are trespassing on private property?"

The harsh tone would have made a lesser person nervous. As it was, the girl just stood up from her crouched position and looked the White Queen in the eyes. "I'm terribly sorry. This wind just came out of nowhere and blew my sailboard off course." She pointed out to the water. Her face held a look of complete innocence. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you? After all, the New England weather is so unpredictable."

Almost instantly, she felt a gentle touch inside her mind. She physically recoiled from the probe. She lashed out at the only cause for her attack. "Stay out of my mind, Frostie. Nobody invited you." She could feel the power grow in her as she carefully but quickly constructed the force field around both her mind and her body.

Emma Frost cried out in pain as her psychic probe was thrown back at her forcefully. Her yelp brought others running to her aid. Scott Summers, her lover and co-headmaster, was the first to show up. He was quickly followed by Kitty Pryde and Piotr Rasputin. Scott took the scene in and automatically assumed that the girl had attacked Emma. His optic blasts bounced off of her force field and nearly succeeded in taking out Kitty and Piotr in the process. Thankfully, Kitty phased them both in time.

"Whoa, I didn't know I could do that," the girl muttered. She saw Cyclops gearing up for another blast and she braced herself. She concentrated everything she had on changing the density of her force field bubble. This time, instead of reflecting the blast, her bubble absorbed the impact of it. It glowed red with color. "Now, that was cool!" She looked over where the X-Men were attempting to regroup. "Look, I don't want to hurt you so I'll give you a heads up. This force field cannot be breached unless I want it to. That includes phasing, Miss Pryde. All I want is to leave in peace, but if you can't handle that, I'm prepared to wait."

"The question is how long you can hold that force field up," Emma purred. "My guess is that you're already weak from holding it up so long. And you managed to absorb the power from that blast. That has to be taking its toll on your endurance." She smirked at the girl in the bubble.

"Actually, it has done nothing of the sort. I feel better than ever if that's possible. I can wait in here for hours. Besides, I'm not the one that started this fight. I was just sitting here, trying to think how to get my board unstuck from those rocks. You had to come along and try to invade my brain. It's not my fault you couldn't handle it. Oh yeah, nice job handling this situation. Here, I heard you were the good guys. I guess attacking a stranger is okay if you're on your home turf, right?" She laughed at the expressions on their faces. "Wow, I've got you speechless. Hasn't anybody ever criticized you for running into a situation without looking?"

"How do you know so much about us if you're not an enemy? How do we know you're even telling the truth?" Kitty was suspicious of her, but she could tell that the girl wasn't lying. After all, Emma was known for sneaking into other people's minds.

"Well, first off, I am not your enemy. Second, one of your teammates told me about you guys. He claimed you were trustworthy if I ever needed anything. Yes, I'm telling the truth. I'm sure if you check your security tapes, they'll tell you the same thing." She glanced over at Piotr. "Hey, Colossus, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but weren't you dead? Or was that somebody else?"

"Da," he replied. "I was dead for awhile. I came back, though." He looked at Kitty for a moment with sorrow. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he hadn't been back from the dead very long.

"Wow," she mused to herself, "I don't know which would be worse. For once, I'm grateful not to be living the superhero life." A flicker of motion brought her back to reality. A small purple dragon floated around her bubble, trying to chew its way inside. When he landed on top of it, she relaxed her hold just enough so that he could fall through. "Who are you, little one? At least somebody around here doesn't want to attack me without reason." She let him curl around her neck as she scratched him on the head.

Kitty lunged forward. "Lockheed! Dragon, you get out here right now. You don't trust strangers like that." She looked more nervous than angry. The dragon looked at her with one eye as if to challenge her to come get him.

The girl gently pulled him off her shoulders. "Come on, little dragon. Your mistress isn't happy with me. She thinks I'm going to do something to hurt you." She murmured encouraging words to him as she pushed him out of her sanctuary. "I'm going to leave now. Just to let you guys know, though, if you ever need help, I'd still give it to you." She trudged out into the water, but kept her force field secure around her. There was no point in giving anybody a free shot.

She felt the strain of her muscles as she swam out closer to her board. She hadn't lied. It would be no problem for her to keep her force field for hours, even days if she wanted to. The problem was from her ribs. She was having difficulty breathing due to the pressure they were putting on her lungs. She gritted her teeth and tried not to let the pain show. She knew she'd been foolish to attempt any strenuous activity. Still, her stubborn streak made her think that she could handle it.

She let her thoughts wander to the X-Men. She hadn't been too harsh on them, but they'd given her little choice but to hold her defensive position. She could have fought them all and, quite possibly, won. Still, there was no use in fighting somebody that could be an ally someday. She was still disappointed, though. For all the stories she'd been told, she had imagined that the X-Men would welcome her with open arms. Here she hadn't even been looking to join the team, or even find them, and they still had cast her out like an evil villain.

"Hey, kid, are you going somewhere?" The hairy man seemed to show up out of nowhere and managed to banish all bad thoughts from her mind.

Instinctively, she let her force field disappear. "Logan! I should have known that you'd show up sooner or later." She took a good look at him and noticed the grin that he was trying so hard to hide. "How much of that did you see?"

"All of it," he said shortly. "I even saw the part where you went diving off the board like you were going to drown. You've got a nasty cut from it, though. What do you say we get it cleaned up at the med center?" He reached out to touch the oozing wound. "Besides, I'd like to get them to apologize for treating a friend with such disrespect. You weren't doing anything wrong. Frost just has panties in a knot for some reason."

"That still doesn't explain why everybody else got so offensive without me doing anything. I wasn't even trying to defend myself. Thanks for the offer, Logan, but I've got a first aid kit in my van. I can take care of myself. I need to get on the road, anyway."

He gave her a curious look, but held his tongue. He'd have plenty of time to get the truth out of her later. "I never said I was giving you a choice. Now, grab your board and let's go. We don't want to keep them in suspense, do we? I'm sure they're dying to know what we're discussing."

She glared at him but he merely grinned in return. Finally, she just gave up and went to retrieve her board. If it had been anybody else but him, she'd have never given in, let alone that easily. Still, he'd been one of the first people to give her a chance. She wasn't about to question his good reason now. "All right, give me a second." She paddled out to un-wedge her board from the boulders. She pulled the sail out of the water and unattached it from the board. Then, straddling the board to keep her balance, she slowly made her way back to where Logan was treading water.

"Come on, kid. We need to get you on dry land where you can get the water out of your brain. Then, you can tell me why you're here in New England all by yourself." He gave her that knowing look again. "You know I'm going to get it out of you, so why not make it easy on yourself and tell me now?"

She managed a nervous laugh. "You're probably right. I'll tell you later what's going on. Right now, don't push your luck. At least you got me to come back to shore. I'm already regretting letting you talk me into this."

"Trust me, kid, they're not always this touchy. You just caught everybody on a bad day. Under normal circumstances, they'd probably be a little more helpful. Just let me do the talking, will ya? I've been around these people for a long time." They walked up the sandy beach where everyone was congregated. "What's the idea here? I thought you guys actually had manners. Some kid washes up on shore and you attack her just for that? I know Frost isn't a gracious hostess, but I thought better of the rest of you." He stared down each of them before continuing. "This here is my friend, Alex Fox. You might know her better as Princess Alexandra."  
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Yeah, second chapter!

Shout out to the people that reviewed. (That's right. If you review, I'll talk to you as well!)

Enigmagirl2727-Thanks for putting this story on your favorite's list.

Jeremy Harper-Haha! You don't have to send Solovey after me! Hopefully, I answered all of your questions, but left you thinking at the same time. (I'm diabolical that way.) I'd answer in more detail right now except my fingers are ready to fall off. Still, send me an e-mail and I 'll get back to you. I hope you're still interested after this chapter.

Anyway, everybody get fat on Thanksgiving! Now, press that review button. You know you want to.


	3. Disscusions and Demonstration

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men. Alex is the only character that I can claim is my own.

She glared at Logan. Any thought of keeping a low profile had just been blown out of the water. "Not anymore. I gave up that title almost two weeks ago. Kinda sucks to be recognized, though. Too many bloody people were watching TV from that stupid ball."

Logan snorted. "I thought you looked sweet all dressed up."

"I looked like one of those Barbie dolls. Trust me, that was a one time deal. I prefer my jeans over fluffy, pink dresses any day."

He just laughed. "Okay, is anybody going to apologize for such rude behavior?" He glared at the other X-Men for a moment.

Alex glanced around at everybody. "It's alright. It was just an honest mistake. It's been really nice to finally meet you guys, but I've got to run. I'll see you around Logan." She turned away and started walking down the beach.

"Are you trying to get out of telling me what's going on?" Logan smirked at her.

She glanced over her shoulder and grinned at him. "Who says I would have told you the truth anyway?"

Anything she wanted to say after that was drowned out by a sinister-looking black helicopter that came swooping down over the small beach. Without warning, it began firing on all of the X-Men. Colossus changed into his steel form and Emma became a diamond as Kitty reached out and phased Cyclops. Logan, on the other hand, just got angry. Before he could react, the helicopter swiveled and fixed its guns on Alex. She glared defiantly at it for a few seconds before running for the ocean. She quickly threw out a force field behind her to protect the X-Men. Then, with the bullets falling just inches short, she dove into the water and disappeared beneath the waves. After what felt like an eternity, she came back to the surface. To everybody's shock and horror, she was facedown and not moving. The helicopter instantly stopped firing. A dark-haired man leaned out of one of the doors.

"Devon sends his regards, princess" At these words, Wolverine charged forward with his claws outstretched. He barely made it a few feet before the force field stopped him in his tracks. The man in the helicopter didn't even notice. "He'll be so disappointed that you couldn't be found." He started laughing.

"Tell Devon that if he wants me dead, he'll have to do it himself." The man's laughter caught in his throat as he watched Alex turn herself over in the water. Her eyes glowed a brilliant blue. She lifted her right hand out of the water and everyone saw that they were the same color. "Tell him I'm done waiting for him to show up. He's just a spineless jellyfish that doesn't have enough balls to deal with his problems on his own."

The man in the helicopter just gaped at her. "Why would I tell him that when I could just kill you now? If you're lucky, I'll even bring your bullet-ridden body back for your uncle to see. What do you think of that?"

"I think you talk too much. Have a nice trip." She left a few seconds for him to ponder the meaning of her words. Then, she punched her fist into the air. The blue light extended from her hand to helicopter. With a sound like a sonic boom, the helicopter disappeared. Instantly, the blue light faded from Alex. She felt the familiar searing pain in her chest just before she lost consciousness.

Logan lunged forward again, this time to pull her limp body out of the water. He cradled her in his arms as he laid her down on the sand. When he tried to check her pulse, his hands couldn't get a grip on her wrist. He discovered they were covered in blood. The other X-Men crowded around, attempting to help.

Suddenly, Alex's eyes opened wide. She sat up so quickly that it made her head spin. She stared at all of the X-Men then at the empty sky. After a few shuddering breaths, she buried her face in her hands.

Logan glanced at everyone else for a signal of what he was supposed to do. Like the other X-Men, he'd backed away when Alex had sat up. He knelt down beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Come on, kid. We have to get you to the medical center."

She was unresponsive for several minutes. "Okay, I just hope your doctor has a strong stomach. I already know I look like hell." She grimaced as she stood up.

"Do you want me to carry you?" He looked ready to catch her if she fell.

"I'd have to be dead or unconscious for someone to carry me. I'm not helpless."

He chuckled. "I think we all know that now. By the way, you'll have to tell me why you pulled that stunt of pretending to be dead."

She gave him an oblique look. "I wasn't pretending anything. Any medical examiner would have declared me legally dead. I've been dead so many times, I've lost count."

"How can that be? You obviously don't have a healing factor like Logan." Kitty was a bit skeptical.

Alex grinned. "No, I don't have a healing factor. If I did, I wouldn't need to get bandaged up. It's a little trick I learned when I was a kid. I can slow my heartbeat down so far that it's not even perceptible as a pulse."

It was at that point that Storm, Nightcrawler, and Marvel Girl stumbled onto the beach. "What's going on? We heard gunshots," Ororo exclaimed.

"We're okay. Some bozos just decided to use us as target practice," Scott stated dryly.

"Was anybody hurt?" Kurt scanned the faces to make sure that everyone was unharmed. When he spotted Alex, his eyes widened. "Mein Gott! Do you know who you look like?"

Logan choked back a laugh while Alex tried desperately to suppress a grin. It wasn't the first time that she'd been met with that kind of reaction. "Alex Fox, at your service. I've been told that I look exactly like my mother, Sylvia Fox. I tend to think that's a bit of an exaggeration." She gave a slight bow and held her hand out. Her eyes widened faintly as she felt his velvety hand grasp hers.

"I'm Kurt Wagner. It is a pleasure to meet you, Alex." He held her hand for a few moments longer than was necessary.

"Hey, Kurt," Kitty called. "She really needs to get that bleeding stopped." He dropped her hand like it was on fire, suddenly aware of the uncomfortable tension that surrounded the group.

Rachel spoke up for the first time. "Joshua left for Salem Center. He won't even be back for another hour. Hank's the only one here that can handle that kind of injury." She'd felt extremely jealous of Kurt's reaction to the girl. Still, she couldn't be completely inhospitable.

"As long as Hank can use tweezers and can sew, I think I'll live." They started walking slowly towards the mansion.

"You're bleeding an awful lot. Can you tell how many times you got hit?" Cyclops was concerned but he didn't want to press their luck. The girl was obviously very independent.

"I only managed to catch one bullet." She pointed to a small rip in her wetsuit. The astonished expressions of the group led her to explain. "I broke the stitches I had from a previous accident. The wounds have had almost no time to heal so it was easy to tear the stitches out."

Logan raised his eyebrows. "From what I've heard, this isn't your first serious accident. Didn't you get attacked by a shark?"

She couldn't help but laugh at that. "That wasn't serious, Logan! The shark didn't even really bite me. He just kinda nibbled on me a little bit. I was back in the water the next day. Besides, who says that my stitches were from a serious accident?"

She was baiting him and he knew it. "Fine, princess. What do you classify as a serious accident?" He smirked at her, knowing that she would take offense to that term.

Her eyes narrowed, but they were the only thing to change in her expression. "Well, hairy man, I'd have to classify a serious accident as a bullet from a rifle that was shot at close-range being lodged less than an inch above my heart. So far, that has been the only serious accident I've been in. Nothing comes close after an experience like that." She grinned, satisfied that she had bested him.

"So why are you running?" He studied her face carefully for any clue of what was going on. Her whole face closed down, offering no hints of her thoughts. She didn't speak so he tried another tactic. "What about those guys in the helicopter? What did they want with you? Where did you send them?"

"I think it was fairly obvious what they wanted. As for where I sent them?" She shrugged her shoulders. "Your guess is as good as mine. If you're worried that they're dead, though, you might as well forget about me being sorry."

"Aren't you even a little remorseful?" Kitty sounded shocked.

"Of course she isn't, Katherine. Those men were obviously after something that Alexandra didn't know about. That's why they were trying to kill her. She couldn't give them what they were searching for." Emma's voice was cold and calculated.

"Did you actually have to read his mind to figure that out," Alex sharply retorted. "Besides, you're only half right. I gave them exactly what they wanted?" She was staring off into space, even as she walked.

Several of the X-Men that had been on the beach suddenly got a sickening feeling in the pit of their stomachs. Surprisingly, Piotr was the one to speak up. He hadn't spoken since Alex had asked about his death. "What was it that you gave them?"

She clasped her hands together to keep them from trembling. "A demonstration."


	4. Birthright

Chapter 4- Birthright

Disclaimer- I don't own the X-Men. Alex is mine, however, and if you try to steal her you will die a very slow and painful death

"What kind of demonstration would have people trying to kill you," Rachel asked.

"They weren't trying very hard in my opinion," Logan snorted.

Alex couldn't help laughing. "That is only because you know my secret. No, I don't think they were trying to kill me, but their true purpose remains to be seen." She mused silently on that thought for a few seconds. Then, she made up her mind. "I should go now. Something about this does not feel right."

"One would think you were dodging the question," Emma said sharply. "Just what kind of demonstration did you give them?"

"A very magnificent, but early one." They all turned to see a younger girl with reddish-brown hair, a student codenamed Radio, approaching the group. "Hello, Alex. I'm a bit surprised to see you here of all places. Shouldn't you be somewhere heavily guarded to keep all of those ugly bachelors away?" Her green eyes sparkled with a bit of mischief. "Maybe you need to live underwater to stop their minions from shooting at you."

Alex grimaced slightly at the girl's chiding tone. "Saw that, did you?" Then, she studied her a little more carefully. She was holding something back. "You know why they were here?" the question was more of an astonished statement.

She held up a hand and dropped a handful of gleaming copper bullets on the ground. "Apparently, one of those psychotic men tried to bind you. You're lucky those bullets shattered when they hit the water. If you'd been shot, you'd probably be halfway to the Underground now without any control over what you were doing." The girl spat the words out with disgust.

Alex's face wrinkled in confusion as she reached into her shoulder and pulled out the bullet, then held it out to her friend. "What does this mean, Delia? I don't understand why it didn't work. The spell had at least ten minutes to get through my bloodstream. Maybe he just really is bad at what he does." She let the bullet fall to the ground where it instantly dissolved into ash.

"I don't know how you got so lucky. That would have crippled anybody else. I guess it must be your status as a half-breed." Delia shrugged and lifted her duffel bag further on her shoulder. "Don't worry, though. If it had happened, I would have released you from the spell no matter what." Her tone was ominous and cold.

"Does she mean that how it sounds?" Nightcrawler's whispered words to Logan did not go unnoticed by Alex. Instantly, he had her full attention.

"The most definite way to break a binding spell is through death. Thankfully, Delia would have killed me quickly and put me out of my misery. Otherwise, my days would have been lived out as a puppet for somebody else."

"How do you know all about this, Miss Thomas? And where do you think you're going tonight?" Emma's tone was imperious as she spotted the duffel bag.

Delai rolled her eyes so that only Alex could see. "I'm going to see my family for the weekend. Despite my parents kicking me out, I do have family left. I've been telling you about this trip for three weeks." Naturally, she ignored the first question. She had given away too much already.

Alex hung her head when she heard this. She sighed in frustration and muttered to herself. "You told them. I tried to warn you what would happen." The words went unnoticed by everyone except Logan.

Kitty was the only one of the group anxious to get the conversation back on its original topic. "Why would anybody have wanted to do that to you anyway?" She looked genuinely confused. "I mean, what could they possibly gain from it? What is this underground that you two are talking about? And why is Delia referring to you as a half-breed?"

Alex closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She had been dreading an explanation of these points, but had been hoping to be gone before anybody could ask them. When she finally opened her eyes, she sent a small glare to Delia for being so openly obvious about everything. The younger girl actually had the grace to look sheepish. "I suppose it's time I started explaining a few things. Believe it or not, I'm actually supposed to be fairly important and valuable." She snorted with disbelief at her own statement. "I've been living in a place called the Underground. The rules there are a little different. Mostly, women are seen as commodities, like jewelry or gold. The men generally make bids to parents or guardians when they want a girl to become theirs. Only the guardian can decide who has the best interests for the girl or, in most cases, who will shell out the most dough to get her. Sometimes, the rejections aren't pretty. Occasionally, if the man is very powerful, like Devon is, he'll just take what he wants no matter the consequences. That's what he was trying to do today. My guardian really doesn't like him."

"How could he do that here? He has no jurisdiction on this land. Xavier's is a safe haven for children with mutant powers. We have federal agents on this property. We could have him arrested for attempted kidnapping!" Rachel was living up to her hair color with a tirade that would make most Hollywood starlets back away in intimidation.

Alex just shook her head. They didn't understand. "Unfortunately, I would have been willing to go anywhere he wanted me to. That's why he needed the spell. I've been too stubborn for his liking." She spat the words out as if they were poison. "As to his jurisdiction anywhere, that never stopped him before."

"That's for sure," Delia muttered darkly. Alex turned quickly to keep the girl from revealing anything more, but winced in silent pain as the slashes on her back opened wider. "What the hell have you been doing to yourself? You're bleeding all over the place. You need to tell me all about it right now." She set her hands on her hips and gave Alex a very determined glare. She looked like a very short general trying to command a disobedient soldier.

Alex laughed and reached out ruffle her hair. "Don't worry so much, girl. I've just retrieved a bit of stolen property for one of our 'sisters.'" She patted her pocket where the amulet was safely tucked away. Her eyes gleamed with dark humor that nobody else would understand. "I'm not going to die on you because of some minor scratches. I still have work to do. After all, not many people know the whereabouts of the rightful owner."

"Oh my god! Please tell me that you did not do what I think you just did." She stole a glance at Alex's very solemn face. "You did. Why would you go risking your bloody neck for somebody that you barely know? You know even less about Spell than I do, and I've had plenty of time to find out what little information there is on her."

While the X-Men looked on in confusion, unsure of anything they were talking about, Alex lifted her chin proudly. "It's the same reason I did it for you. It just needed doing." With that profound declaration, she turned back to the X-Men. "Thank you for allowing me this brief rest on your property. It truly has been fun." She turned and walked back in the direction of the beach before any of them could stop her.

Emma pulled Scott into the mansion for another one of their 'conferences,' leaving Logan, Rachel, Kurt, Piotr, and Kitty to watch the girl leave. Delia, however, had no intention of letting her get away without a private explanation. She ran and managed to catch up at the edge of the woods. "Can you at least tell me where you're going after this? I'd like to be able to get a hold of you if I need your help." Her face was so earnest that Alex couldn't resist telling the girl a little more about her plans while she was Aboveground, however long that would be.

"The reason I'm really here is to find somebody. My guardian has fallen in love with a human girl. She's rejected him once already, but he thinks he's given her enough time that she might have changed her mind. I'm the only one he trusts enough to find out if she feels the same way. Hopefully, she does because I don't know what will happen if she breaks his heart again."

"What about you? Are there any guys that you have your sights set on? I mean, all those boys are after you. There must be somebody you have feelings for."

Alex shook her head wistfully. Once upon a time, she would have been as enthusiastic as Delia about things like boys and clothes. Now, her only priorities revolved around training to keep herself defended. "There was somebody a few years ago. It would never have worked between us, though. Besides, he probably moved on a long time ago." She didn't tell Delia that the guy in question was her brother.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Delia's brother had wandered into the backyard on his way to find her. He stopped near the X-Men before noticing the girls in the distance. His face instantly turned so pale that they thought he might pass out. "Who is that with my sister?"

Kurt stared at him with more than a little curiosity. "Her name is Alex. We assumed they were old friends. They talk as if they've known each other forever." His eyes grew more concerned when West reached out to grab the edge of a nearby picnic table to steady himself. His breathing grew unsteady and he blinked several times as if to clear his vision.

"That's impossible," he managed to murmur. "Alex? No, she's supposed to be dead." He had just started moving in their direction when an unearthly howl filled the air.

Alex's head snapped up in alarm. There was no mistaking that sound for anything other than the pure nightmare that it was. "Oh, bloody hell! This is exactly not what I need right now." She grabbed Delia's arm and pushed her toward the house. "Get out of here! You need to get everybody to safety!"

"I can help you! I know how to fight!" She pushed her friend's hand off of her arm." Besides, I think you're going to need all the help you can get." Dimly, Alex saw the others rushing in their direction at the sound of trouble. She vaguely realized that it was useless to keep the others out of the fight. She had to do a double-take when she saw West with them. Her breath caught in her throat before she shook herself out of her daze. Now was not the time to get distracted. She could hear the Death Dogs getting closer.

The X-Men reached them in only a few seconds. Logan sent Alex a look of curiosity. Breathless, she answered the unspoken question he had in his eyes. "They're Death Dogs. They hunt and retrieve humans for their master. Anybody else around, they have free reign to kill as viciously as they can. Don't worry. The Goblin King taught me how to fight these things. They may be ugly and mean, but I'm worse." She wanted to laugh, but the sound got stuck in her throat.

Everybody jumped back as seventeen large snarling beasts came charging at them. They were hideous versions of dogs and had the attitude to match. They drooled pools of saliva when they growled and their teeth were bigger than even Logan's forearm. They could have easily matched Sabertooth in size and pure meanness. All of their attention was focused on Alex. She held out her arm and suddenly a sword appeared in it. Piotr and Kitty looked at her more than a little alarmed. The sword looked suspiciously like the Souls Sword. She looked grimly around her and silently counted the number of Death Dogs. "These are my kind of odds." Before anybody else could react, she leapt toward the nearest dog and started hacking at it with her sword. Instantly, the other dogs began circling around her. They weren't allowed to kill her. Their master had given that specific order when he'd sent them to finish what the human mercenaries had botched. The X-Men didn't know that, though.

When a dog lunged for Alex, Wolverine popped his claws and stabbed it in the foreleg. "The first one's a warning, bub. Next time, you won't be so lucky." The dog shifted its attention to Logan immediately. It didn't have time to do much more than growl at him before he'd stabbed it through the heart. Nearby, the others were working on their own problems. Alex had moved on to her fourth dog, while Delia and West had ganged up on a single one. Colossus had already taken his frustration out on two of them. Rachel, Kitty, and Kurt were also working on their first ones. That left only six for Logan to attack. While he watched, though, Alex finished killing the dog that she was fighting and thrust her sword into the side of another. He grinned, admiring her ferocity for a moment. He didn't need to wonder where her pent up anger had come from. She'd already told him.

It was only a few moments later that the entire battle was over. They had only sustained minor scratches and bruises, except for Alex. She was bleeding profusely from her back and her shoulder. She was grinning triumphantly, though. "That was fun. I really needed a workout like that. Last time I looked like this, though, the goblins had to come and take me away." She winked at Delia with a small chuckle.

Delia couldn't help laughing with her. "Well, in that case, I wish the goblins would come and take _us_ away," she said, "right now." Alex's face clouded over for a moment and she started to yell at her to stop. It was too late, though. The words had already been spoken.

This is for enigmagirl2727 because she asked for it. Next chapter: What do the words mean? Who exactly is Alex and how does Logan know her? What is her connection to Delia? Will there be any surprises connecting her to other X-Men? Tune in next time to get the answers to these astounding questions. Either way, leave a review. Good or bad, I just like hearing what you have to say.


	5. Underground

Chapter 5- Underground

Disclaimer- I don't own the X-Men or the Underground. I do own Alex, Delia, and West.

No sooner had Delia finished muttering the words than the eight of them had been transported to the Underground. They ended up sprawled in the orange sand except for Logan, who managed to land on his feet, and Alex, who somehow got entangled in a tree on her way down.

"This day just can't get any better," she muttered. The glittery, black branch shook under her weight and she wondered briefly if it would break. She could hear the conversation between the X-Men and fervently prayed that Delia would keep her silence for once.

"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Rachel joked. She looked around the landscape in more than a little wonder. The trees, like the one Alex was trying to remove herself from, had an ebony-colored bark that stood in stark contrast to the burnt sienna hue of the sand that seemed to stretch forever. There were tufts of tall grass and weeds scattered about the hills. As for the glitter, well, it was everywhere. It clung to trees, sand, and weeds alike. It almost resembled a water globe where the glitter had gotten tired of floating around and decided to permanently stick to whatever it had landed on. The whole effect was surreal and more than a little magical.

"Well, where in the world are we. This sure doesn't look like Oz to me." Kurt's normally enthusiastic attitude had been abruptly replaced with a scowl and a grumble. Nobody else knew it, but he had been planning on taking Rachel out to dinner that night. He had a sinking feeling that they wouldn't be back in New York for them to keep their reservations. Everybody gave him such curious and alarmed looks that he instantly felt sheepish for his snappish remark.

"We're in the Underground, aren't we?" The question came from West, Delia's older brother. Nearly everyone had forgotten that he'd shown up. He raised his eyes to where Alex was climbing down. His tone wasn't accusatory, only despairing. The X-Men instantly glanced between the two as if that would explain the situation to them instantly.

"Yeah, we are. It's not my fault, though. Believe me, I'm the last person that wants to see this place right now. I was on vacation." She was smiling, though. "Just watch out for the goblins. They think that fighting is some sort of national pastime. That, and drinking."

Logan grinned to himself. "Sounds like me." He'd learned enough about the Underground from Alex on past occasions to know that he would fit in with the goblins without any real effort, except of course, for being human.

Before anybody could ask how they'd gotten there, Delia spoke up. "I brought us here. It was an accident, though. I didn't mean to say the magic words. They just kind of slipped out. I didn't mean for the goblins to come and take us away." She scuffed her tennis shoe in the sand and avoided everyone's glances.

"You mean to say that you wished us away?" Piotr's voice was full of awe. Then, as if it were an ordinary thing, and maybe it was for the X-Men, he made up his mind. "So, what do we do now?"

"Isn't the Goblin King supposed to come and threaten us before we have to find our way through the Labyrinth?" Kitty's voice showed little concern for their situation. At least, aliens weren't trying to turn them into breeding mothers or copy their looks to take over the Earth.

Delia and Alex exchanged startled glances. How Kitty Pryde, a human that had never entered the Underground before, had known the protocol for such an event was a mystery. "Yes, that's exactly what's supposed to happen," Alex stated slowly. Then, as a sudden thought occurred to her, she whipped her head around from her perch in the tree. A look of pure horror and shock spread across her features a split second before the tree branch snapped. She landed hard on the sand with more than a few choice words to say about it.

She dusted herself off and stood up, purposely declining any help. "Well, I guess it's time for me to find some different clothes. Jareth probably wouldn't like me wandering into the throne room looking like I've been in a fight with a bobcat, especially if there are other fae there." She grinned at Delia. "It looks like you'll get a chance to see Spell after all."

"I'm sorry, but you totally lost me. Who is Jareth, how do you know him, and why does your outfit matter at all?" Rachel was exasperated. She was suddenly seeing that they wouldn't be home in a matter of minutes and it upset her. After all, she had been secretly planning to take Kurt out to the movies since they both had the night off.

Alex eyed the redhead critically. She had a severe problem with being yelled at, but decided to excuse it. After all, nobody had planned on being stuck in a place they had never heard of with a girl they had just met as their only hope to get out. "Jareth is the Goblin King and my guardian. My outfit only matters because he's not here. That means he's probably busy talking to other fae. If I barge into his throne room looking like this, I'll have to be lectured for months on etiquette and appearance and several other things that I can't stand to hear about. It's one of those stupid fae rules that have almost no meaning except to give others something to gossip about. And I just happen to like keeping as much of a low profile as I can."

"Does that mean you're a fae too?" Kitty's voice was naturally confused. She'd read stories about mythical creatures, but, with the exception of Thor and some of the residents of Otherworld, had never thought to meet any of them.

"Oh, it's much worse than that," Alex smirked. "I'm half-fae, the only one in the Underground, to be exact. That means, depending on their mood, I can either be shunned from proper society or revered as some unusual curiosity. Also, in case you were wondering, I was planning on taking you straight through the Labyrinth as soon as I got changed. I just happen to know all the shortcuts."

"As long as they don't involve going anywhere near the Bog of Eternal Stench," Delia piped up. Instantly, she earned such inquiring looks that she wished she would have stayed quiet.

"How is it that you know all about this place," Delia? You've never once mentioned it at school." Kurt was back to his relaxed self, but couldn't help be suspicious of the way the two girls pretended to be friends when Delia's own brother had thought that Alex was dead.

"Don't push the girl, Elf. She's been openmouthed enough today. It doesn't matter if she's been here before or not. All that matters is getting us out of here in time for you to go on your date." Logan laughed at Nightcrawler's surprised expression. "The restaurant called earlier to confirm your reservations. Besides, I didn't know it was supposed to be a secret."

Alex shot a look of thanks to him for getting the others momentarily distracted. The last thing anybody wanted was to hear how this all started. "Well, are we ready to get going? I'm not waiting around all day, you know." Without waiting for an answer, she trotted off in the direction of the cabin she shared with Spell.

West was the first one to catch up with her. His sharp blue-grey eyes took in her determined face with a glance. "I thought you were dead."

"I got better," she said evenly, "or worse, depending on how you want to look at it. It happens all the time. Look at the X-Men. Some of them have died or gone missing several times. I suppose they can spare a few members every now and then for death. Why shouldn't it happen to me once or twice?"

"Gee, that wasn't a vague reference to Spell, was it?" She glared at him a moment before looking away. "Something's wrong here, isn't it? You're in too much of a hurry just to get on clean clothes that will probably end up torn in a few moments anyway. Something bad is happening and it's actually got you nervous."

She glanced over her shoulder to see how close the X-Men were. "Look, I know you're mad at me, but you need to forget about what happened between us for now." She saw him about to protest and shook her head. She'd known what he was thinking even before he did. "There's no time to argue with me. None of you asked to be here and none of you need to be stuck here. I lied about Jareth. Being in charge of the Labyrinth is his main responsibility. It's his job to give the humans the thirteen hour time limit and set the rules. If he didn't show up, there's a reason why. I just don't want anybody else to get worried about it."

He put his hand on her elbow, firmly, but not forcefully. "You're not going to do anything stupid, are you?" She paused in her stride and gave him an oblique look. "I just don't want to get stuck here. I've seen what some of these fae can do."

She pulled her arm away from him. "Don't worry. Spell knows how to get you humans to the castle in secret. She'll be able to teleport you home from there." She strode away, hoping the next half-mile would go quicker than the last one had.

The X-Men watched the interaction with curiosity. Once again, they were the ones out of the loop. There was an exaggerated sigh behind them. "Those two will never learn," Delia stated mockingly. She rushed to explain before anybody could ask her. "They used to date." Oddly, that fact didn't seem to shock anybody.

"Your brother was under the impression that she was dead," Nightcrawler said sagely.

"She was," the girl replied. "She got better."

"That seems to be an occupational habit," Rachel said with a small grin. She was, no doubt, thinking of the many times Jean had died and then miraculously come back to life.

"Yeah, it happens more often than not," Kitty stated with a sideways glance at Piotr. She still hadn't gotten over the shock of finding him alive. "I wonder who will show up next."

"Hey, D! Keep an eye open. I'm going to run ahead and start changing. You know what's good and what's bad. You've got to keep everybody from getting into trouble while I'm not looking." She winked at her with a grin. "Oh, and if you decide to make music, keep it down. Goblin King doesn't like heavy metal. I found that one out the hard way."

"Hey, kid, make sure to get bandaged up while you're gone. You're bleeding all over the place," Logan snorted.

Alex just laughed at him. "When am I not bleeding all over the place? Hanging around you doesn't help things at all. I'll see you guys in a little bit." She turned back around and started running as fast as she could. There would be almost no time for her to warn Spell about their unexpected visitors. She easily put the rest of the group far behind her as she rushed to the small cabin. Finally, she rounded the last bend and saw the place she called home.

The crumbling shack looked deserted from the outside. Nobody would give it a second glance either in the Underground or on Earth. It was the type of place that was instantly forgettable. It also didn't hurt that there was a barrier around it that didn't allow people to see the structure for what it really was. Once you stepped beyond the barrier, you saw a two-story house that could have easily been in any suburb in America. It was apparent now that the design had been loosely based off of Xavier's, but smaller.

Alex stepped through the doorway. "Ana? Spell, are you here?" As she waited for her roommate to pop up, she gathered up the first aid kit and an extra set of clothes from the basket by the door. It just happened that her favorite outfit was on top.

"What are you doing back so soon?" The blue-eyed blonde stepped out from behind a bookcase that doubled as an entrance to their secret passageway. She took in Alex's state without a bat of her eye. She had seen the girl in a much worse state and occasionally had put her in such a state.

"There's no time for a big explanation. I got wished away and the X-Men are going to be here in a few minutes. It's your choice whether to go or stay, but I really need your help getting these bandages on." She managed to gesture while still trying, helplessly, to get out of the wetsuit.

"You're going to need help with a lot more than that," Spell told her grimly. "Devon attacked the Goblin City this morning. He's got Jareth locked away in the dungeon and is attempting to take control of the country." She calmly began cleaning out Alex's deep gashes, making no inquiries as to how she got them. Inside, her own thoughts were in turmoil. The X-Men were here and very shortly would be almost face to face with her.

"I figured something like that was going on when Jareth never showed up to do his intimidation skit. Still, that's really low, even for Devon. He's not going to get away with it if I have anything to do with it." Suddenly, she whirled around to face her best friend. "I didn't bring the X-Men here on purpose. I swear, this was not my idea."

"It was time I faced them anyway," Spell whispered quietly. "I really do need to stop hiding now that I have my memory back. Let's just hurry up and get you bandaged and dressed. I'm assuming that Delia is the one that ended up wishing you guys away. Is she with them?"

"Yeah, so is her brother," Alex muttered. "Out of all the people in the world, why did it have to be him? Anybody else, I could deal with."

Spell chuckled. "Maybe fate decided to stick her nose into our business once again. You never know. There could be an important reason for everything happening right now."

Meanwhile, the X-Men, along with Delia and West, were making their way to the cottage very slowly. Now that Nightcrawler and Rachel had both realized that they weren't going to make it home very soon, they had given up their anger and were now chatting amiably about the scenery. The same could not be said about Piotr and Kitty. They were about as far apart as they could be while still being within hearing range of each other. Kitty had her arms wrapped around herself and her head down as she walked. Every now and then, she would sneak glances at the tall Russian, but never when he would notice. There was a chance that he wouldn't have noticed anyway. He was taking in the landscape with an artist's eye. Logan glanced between the two of them and shook his head in disgust. Talk about never learning. He loped up to West and Delia, just in time to hear some of their quiet conversation.

"No, it's nothing like this. Sure, there's sand everywhere, but it's rough like the desert. The mines are worse than anything, cold and wet. I think that's why some of the others just gave up hope. Even when we got out, they just let themselves die. Spell and Alex are the only other ones that I know are still left. We don't like to talk about anything that happened. It's just one of those terrible nightmares that you don't believe was real. That's why Mom and Dad kicked me out, isn't it?" She looked her brother right in the eye. "They didn't want to believe that I was telling the truth. Why did you believe me though?"

He looked at her with something akin to pity. "Why would I doubt you? You never lied to me before. Besides, you're my sister. I'm supposed to take your word for it." He tenderly ruffled her hair. "You don't have to tell me anymore than you want to. Believe me, Alex never said a single thing about it. It was like it never even happened to her. I almost believe that she's repressed the whole thing."

"She hasn't," Logan chimed in. "She got drunk one night and told me everything. If I ever get my hands on that bastard Devon, they'll have to sweep up the pieces with a broom." Unconsciously, he popped his claws. "I figured out the moment I saw her again that Alex had been through some sort of hell." He nodded at Delia. "I knew it about you too. You've got the same look about you." He sniffed the air. "There's something going on, isn't there? Alex was way too nervous for just a little walk around her backyard. She's not the type to be scared for no good reason, either." He grinned. "I could use another fight today."

"I just want to make it out of here alive again. I know it's a different country, but still, I'll feel better once I'm back home. Jareth is a fair man, if you know what rules to play by."

Kitty overheard that comment and laughed. "That's certainly an understatement. I heard that he speeds up time whenever it strikes his fancy to, sends an army of goblins after you, and tries to get everybody to betray you." She made no attempt to explain her source of information until Delia pushed her. "I knew this girl in college that said she'd been in a place like this with a man called the Goblin King. She was telling me about this one night when we'd been up studying late. I guess I never gave it a thought that she could be lying. After all, I've been to space so many times that I've lost count. I guess she was telling the truth. That labyrinth back there certainly seemed to fit her description."

"Sarah," Delia breathed. "You knew Sarah. She's a living legend here. In fact, that's why Alex was on Earth. She's been looking for her." By this time, they had gotten close to what they perceived as a shack.

"Please, tell me that she did not go in there," Rachel said. "That place looks like it's going to fall down with a strong breath of air." She looked skeptical. Still, she followed to footprints almost to the edge of the house. Instantly, the true nature of the place was revealed to them.

"Alex stood in the doorway, attempting to hold back a smile at their obvious surprise. She looked much more comfortable in a pair of tan cargo pants and a man's white dress shirt. "Things aren't always what they seem in this place. Don't worry, though. You'll be out of here long before anything else can surprise you like that."

"Alex?" She turned to look at someone in the house that none of the others could see. When she stepped farther into the house, it was obvious that her intent was seriously deliberate. She muttered under her breath as she did so. "Then again, maybe not."

When everybody had made it into the house and the door was shut behind them, Alex took a long slow look at the group. This was not going to go well. She could already feel it. She saw Logan sniff the air and knew that there would be no turning back from this point. "I guess most of you already know my friend, Spell."

The girl stepped from the shadows so that everybody could see her. "Hi guys." There was a collective gasp from the room as everyone realized that another teammate had come back from the dead.

Yeah, another chapter done in less than a month. I actually had to write this twice, as my mom's computer has neither internet connection or a floppy drive. Technically, I have a chapter and a half more done, but I haven't had the time to retype it. I don't know how many people are actually reading this now, so I'm trying to wrap it up and concentrate on other stories or original fiction, due to the urging of some friends.

Enigmagirl2727-I hope this answered some of your questions. If you don't understand the Underground thing, I suggest you watch Labyrinth. It's a good movie and there will be a few appearances from some of the characters in it.

Next chapter-Spell! Anybody have an idea of who she is? If not, you'll find out. Review and tell me what you think. I need to know if anybody's still reading it so I can judge how much to put in before the ending.


	6. Spell

Alex & the X-Men by Kitty Rasputin

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or Jareth or Sarah. Alex, Delia, West, and Devon are mine so leave them alone.

Chapter 6-Spell

"Snowflake, is that you?" Piotr's voice was wobbly. His face had gone so pale that Alex thought he might faint. She stepped aside and led him into one of their overstuffed armchairs. She'd known this would come as a shock.

"It's her, all right," Logan snorted. "This must be the year for people coming back from the dead. First you, Pete, then Betsy and now the kid here." He was taking it in stride, though. He'd recognized her scent from nearly half a mile from the house.

"It comes with the territory, I guess," Illyana laughed. "You can't really call yourself an X-Man unless you've either died or gone crazy a couple of times. Hey, Delia, I hear this is all your fault. You've really got to watch what you wish for." Her eyes twinkled as she pulled the other girl into a hug.

"How…how is this even possible? You died from the Legacy Virus years ago, but you had reverted in age. Now, you're all grown up again and, well, alive." Kitty couldn't help but stutter when staring at the girl who had been her best friend for years.

"It wasn't me," she said quickly. "If I had to guess, I'd say it was the Illyana from an alternate time-line, you know, the one where everybody but me died. All I know is that the last thing I could remember was New York being filled with a bunch of demons. The next thing I knew I was here in the Underground without any memory of who I was. The best thing I can figure out is that whatever spell I was trying to do got screwed up and sent me here."

"How long ago did you regain your memory," Nightcrawler asked quietly. It was obvious that she knew who she was now. He knew that sooner or later everyone would be wondering why she hadn't come back as soon as she had remembered her identity.

"It was a few months ago," she admitted. "I learned that Piotr was dead and Kitty was off to college so I figured there would be no point in coming back right away. Besides, I had something taken away from me that I won't leave the Underground without." Her voice brooked no argument.

"You won't have to," Alex replied firmly. "I took care of that little matter just this morning." She picked up the scrap of rubber that was left of her wetsuit and pulled something shiny out of the pocket. She tossed it to Illyana who stared at it in wonder. It was the Bloodstone Amulet that she'd been in possession of ever since she'd been captured by Belasco.

"Well, this explains why your back looked like somebody tried to skin you. You found the razor wire when you were trying to break into Devon's fortress." Suddenly, she got very angry. "You're such an idiot. You could have gotten yourself killed sneaking in there! Have you completely lost your mind?"

To everyone's surprise, Alex just grinned. "It was my choice to go after your amulet and my risk too. Don't get your knickers in a twist. I've had this all planned out for months. The only thing that went wrong was a few scratches. I'm fine and now you can leave here without anything holding you back."

"Except for that other important factor keeping us here," she shot back hotly. This got everyone else's attention quicker than if somebody had blown a whistle. There was an uncomfortable silence that stretched for a few long minutes.

"All right, somebody had better start explaining right now before I lose my temper. What's going on and why are you both so angry about it?" Logan practically growled at them.

The girls glared at each other a moment longer before they turned away. Neither of them wanted to break the news that the X-Men had stumbled into a war zone. "Don't worry about it. I'm getting ready to take care of it anyway. Spell, er, Illyana, get them to the castle as easily as you can. Then teleport everyone, including yourself, out of here." She stalked toward a nearby closet and began systematically removing weapons that had been hidden in coat pockets and secret compartments.

This time, it was West who got fed up with her. "Why don't you just tell them that you think something has happened to your precious Goblin King? I'm sure nobody else will be too concerned that we may all be stuck here forever!" This sent a gasp from several of the others.

"I'm never telling you anything again," Alex told him tightly, without even looking at any of them. Then, she whirled around with an expression of absolute fury. She lifted the small crossbow that she had and fired in his direction. He hit the floor and her bolt crashed through the window behind him. Alex paid him no heed, though, and vaulted over his body on her way out the door.

"Get up, you dork. She just saved your life." Delia gestured to the spear that had fallen through the open window. It was embedded in the floor only a few inches away from where he had been standing. The loud crack of a gunshot filled the air and caused everybody to flinch. Before anybody could even move toward the door, Alex came rushing back in. She slammed the door behind her and latched it.

"We're in big trouble," she gasped. "I managed to take him out, but there were others out of range. I hate troll minions," she declared vehemently. She started grabbing more weapons out of the closet and throwing them to whoever could catch. "It's time we get out of here before they come back. They're not very nice."

Illyana had already started emptying another closet and was grabbing some of her favorite daggers along with the sword that looked like the Soul Sword. "Shouldn't we split up so they don't catch up with all of us? I don't even know how Devon found us all here. Nobody's supposed to see through that barrier except for the ones we want to."

"That's why he's got the trolls," Alex muttered as she pressed her hands to the front door. "They could probably smell us from miles away. Plus, I must have led them right here. Stupid fool for forgetting something like that," she berated herself. Her hands were starting to glow blue, though, and within a few moments the door itself was glowing. "That should at least slow them down for a little bit."

"I have to be a killjoy, but how are we going to get out of here now?" Rachel's voice held more than a hint of sarcasm. All of these unwarranted attacks were bringing out her inner-Phoenix. "You just bolted the only door and obviously set it to explode if anybody opens it."

"There's obviously some other way out. She wouldn't just lock us inside of an explosive house," Kitty stated clearly. "Besides, if all else fails, I can just phase us out of here." Still, everyone was beginning to realize what kind of mess they had gotten into.

"There's a secret passageway," Alex said quietly. She pulled on the bookcase until it shifted away from the wall. "Get going to the castle. Once you're there, you should be able to teleport out of here. Don't get involved in any fights if you don't have to."

Alex would have ducked into the tunnel if it hadn't been for the set of adamantium claws that embedded themselves in the frame not an inch from her face. "What's going on?" Logan didn't even try to hide his anger this time. He truly looked as if he would skin her alive if she didn't start talking. Nobody dared to make a move.

Alex didn't even flinch. She had figured it would come to this sooner or later. "Devon's trying to take over the country. You guys are going home. I'm on my way to stop him," she said, lifting the crossbow once more, "anyway I have to."

"Like hell you are," Delia yelled. "You are not doing anything without my help. I owe Devon as much of a beating as you do for my time in those slave camps."

"Me too," Illyana said quietly. "Besides, who's going to keep you from getting into trouble?" She managed to smile tightly, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. They both knew that this wasn't going to be as easy as the last time they had fought against Devon and his goons. Truly, neither one of them cared.

"What did you mean by slave camps?" Piotr had gotten over his shock of finding his sister and was glancing between the three girls for another explanation. Delia, Alex, and Illyana exchanged looks of dread. None of them liked saying anything at all about the reason they knew each other.

Alex suddenly spoke up without warning. When she started talking, it was fast, almost as if she wanted to get the experience over as quick as possible. "I bet you're all wondering how a rock star's daughter ended up in a place like this for years on end." She glanced at Logan, who retracted his claws. "I was kidnapped, believe it or not, from the hospital where I'd been put after my mother was murdered. I was taken to a place very similar to this, except Devon was the ruler and he expected humans to be his slaves. I worked in the iron mines for about three or four years before some of us staged a revolution and got the hell out of Dodge." She paused in her story and glanced at her two friends. "That's how we know each other. We all worked in the mines together."

"Show them," Logan ordered. He could see that not all of the X-Men were convinced she was telling the truth. Physical proof was the only thing that could convince them otherwise.

Delia started to protest, but Alex shook her head sharply. She lifted the back of her loose white shirt until it touched the bottom of her shoulder blades, then turned around so everyone could see. The scars from countless beatings with a whip were highly visible to all of them. After a moment, she let the shirt drop back down and proceeded into the tunnel. She glared back at the X-Men, almost daring them to make a comment, then turned around and kept walking.

"So that's why she has such an attitude towards this Devon guy. Except for the marrying thing, I mean." Rachel shook her head in disgust. "Here I thought she just had an attitude problem in general."

"Suffice it to say, that's the short story. Less gory details that way. Well, are you guys going to help out or not?" Illyana grinned. "I guess you'll have to if you want me to teleport you back." She cocked a shotgun and tossed it to Delia, who was already waiting at the mouth of the tunnel. "Shoot anything you don't recognize as being friendly."

The other girl nodded her agreement and disappeared into the shadows. "They're not too optimistic about this, are they?" Nightcrawler's question went unanswered as everybody dealt with the sudden revelation from the girls in their own way.

Rachel reflected on her own time as a slave and suddenly felt a kinship with the girls that had fought the system and tried to escape. She had also lost most of her family and friends in a similar situation before she had found the X-Men of this time-line to call her family. Vaguely, she wondered if her own life had been sheltered from the physical pain she had just seen marked all over Alex's back.

Piotr mourned for the sister that had never had the chance to be a child, on Earth, in Limbo, and now here. Between being kidnapped by Arcade, living half of her life in hell with a bunch of demons, and trying to reconnect with people her own age while trying to suppress her own demonic abilities, she had never really had a chance to just relax and have some fun. Then, she'd thought her brother was dead and had gone up against an entire city swarming with demons almost by herself. That alone would have been enough to drive any sane person to the edge. But, to have her memory stolen and be forced to work as a slave to some tyrant was beyond what a normal human could handle.

Kitty stared into the dark mouth of the tunnel and suddenly felt the urge to follow the girls into whatever mess they were headed for, if only because the loyalty they had for each other was the only thing that kept them from falling apart. They had been through hell and back and could only trust one another to help them. Those girls had something that Kitty hadn't been able to keep since before she'd become an X-Man. They weren't going to abandon the others at the first sign of trouble. Their faithfulness to each other was something that Kitty's parents had never had, something the X-Men claimed to have, but never really gave completely to, and something Kitty herself had a hard time giving. It had started when her parents had divorced. Then, Piotr had broken her heart. The X-Men faked their own deaths, leaving her and Nightcrawler by themselves to mourn. Apparently, Alex, Illyana, and Delia, even when they had been apart, had kept a very strict code of silence, telling only those who needed to know about what had happened. They were looking out for each other, especially when the others didn't want them to. Impulsively, Kitty snatched up a katana and raced after them.

Logan watched the others react in silence. Alex had told him several years ago about what had happened. He'd recognized the girl the minute she walked through the door of the Princess Bar. After all, he'd been a bodyguard for her mother for a year or two and had been off duty on the night she had been murdered and Alex had nearly died. She remembered him too and they struck up a light conversation. He'd known something terrible had happened to her just from looking at her face. There were bruises the color of three-week old cheese and one fresh scratch that had stretched from her eyebrow to her jawbone. He'd plied her with free drinks for over five hours before she'd finally broken down and told him. It hadn't been the few sentences she'd told the others, either. It was the whole terrifying experience, complete with vivid and disturbing details. He wasn't going to push the others into fighting, though. It wasn't their fight and, if they chose to do it, it would have to be for their own reasons. He particularly kept his eye on West. There was something between the boy and Alex, although both of them were trying hard to ignore it. In that aspect, they were exactly like Piotr and Kitty. He growled under his breathe, wondering if he would be playing matchmaker for the rest of the trip.

West swept his sandy brown hair away from his face with one hand. He truly was an idiot. When he'd seen Alex pointing that crossbow at him, he'd actually thought she was trying to shoot him. He had never expected her to wander back into his life, especially after hearing that she had died from a fight she'd had in the Underground. Now, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He'd immediately said all of the wrong things to her and gotten her angry. To make things worse, he actually felt jealous of this mysterious Goblin King that she seemed so concerned with. Then, to hear an inference about Alex, Devon, and marriage had nearly made him physically ill. He'd seen the scars on his own sister's back from the monster, but Alex's scars had been ten times worse. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered her saying something about protecting the others by always taking responsibility for things that weren't even her fault. It was the only comment she had ever made about being a slave. Unconsciously, he walked toward the passageway and, when he finally regained his senses, he was surrounded in almost pitch black shadows.

"Oh damn," he said out loud. "Now how do I find anybody?" Instantly, a small, but strong hand clamped over top of his mouth and its owner pulled him back against the stone wall.

"Be quiet," a familiar voice whispered against his ear. "I have no idea who's going to be down here and whether they'll be friendly or not." Belatedly, they both realized that the rest of the X-Men had filed into the passage and had closed the entrance behind them. That was the reason for the inky darkness they were enveloped in.

"How can we get to the castle if we can't even see to move?" Nightcrawler was attempting to joke, but nobody was in the mood for it. Instead, Alex activated her fae powers and her hands gave enough blue light to allow them to see a little. Before West could even take another breath, she had put several feet between them.

"I've been meaning to ask you about that, Alex. Just when did you inherit your fae powers?" illyana was genuinely curious. Normally, a fae wouldn't get their powers until their twenty-third birthday. That's why so many bachelors were anxious to find a girl that had not come into her power yet. Once they had power, it was hard to get them to be submissive and controllable. Alex had gotten her powers just over two years before they were scheduled to appear.

"They just showed up a few hours ago. I sent some of Devon's human mercenaries into the Bog of Eternal Stench." She stopped in her tracks as a sudden realization hit her. "Ai-yah, tien-ah! I'm the one responsible for Devon attacking Jareth. He probably thought Jareth was doing it to spite him and here I'm the one that did it. I really blew it this time."

"I'm sure this Jareth understands and probably applauds you for doing what you had to. It did end up saving your life, if I recall it right." Piotr attempted to give her a smile, feeling closer to the girl after discovering that she had befriended and helped his sister for years.

"He'll probably just be annoyed that he didn't get to play his sarcastic villain part," Illyana chimed in. "Besides, Devon has been here almost a full thirteen hours. You never know, though. Since he stopped being able to see Sarah, Jareth has been rather moody. I suppose that's why he sent you to look for her."

By now, they had neared the light of another tunnel. Alex let her blue light fade away. They turned the corner to find a dozen trolls rushing toward them. They hurled spears in the direction of the humans with great force. Most of them came up short or flew harmlessly over their heads. One of them hit the mark though.

Okay, another chapter finally done. If you can't tell, this is going to be an X-Men/Labyrinth crossover, at least for the last few chapters. I may have up to five chapters after this, but no more. I truly want to trash the whole story since it seems nobody is reading it, but that almost seems a waste of my creative time. Anyway, if you are reading this, let me know so I don't throw out something you are reading.

Ai-yah tien-ah!- Merciless hell (It's Mandarin Chinese)


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